7 Ways You’ll Be Happier at 70 Than You Were at 50

Forget what you’ve heard about the quality of life decreasing as you age.

While it’s a common assumption that aging leads to depression, decreased cognitive abilities and distress, that turns out to be false. New research supports a much better reality, suggesting that people are actually happier as they age. In fact, the older you get, the better you’ll feel about your life. Here are just some of the reasons you’ll be happier when you’re 70.

As they got older, many of the couples started to wholeheartedly accept each other.

2. Your friendships will deepen.

When most people think of old age they also tend to think of loneliness. Well, it turns out that’s just another myth. Recent studies by Professor Karen Fingerman, a professor of human development an family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, show that older individuals report having more supportive friendships.

The reality is that up until about age 50, people are more concerned with growing their social networks rather than nurturing relationships. After 50, they would much rather maximize the relationships they already have. In fact, they tend to get rid of those relationships they don’t feel so close to and focus instead on enjoying real connections.

3. You won’t be so hard on yourself.

Another major shift that happens as we age is that we are no longer so hard on ourselves. As Jonathan Raunch writes in his groundbreaking article, The Real Roots of a Midlife Crisis, “In my own case, however, what seems most relevant is a change frequently described both in popular lore and in the research literature: for some reason, I became more accepting of my limitations.”

New research can back this up. The pioneer behind a Stanford Study, Laura Carstensen, discovered that as people age they set goals which are more realistic for them to pursue. It’s as if the pressure to set overly high expectations for yourself fades away.

This may seem like a discouraging thing, but it’s actually not. Hannes Schwandt, an economist at Princeton’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, found that in youth we’re quick to overestimate our future satisfaction. When reality sets in, we become disappointed. However, as you age you tend to underestimate your future satisfaction, which leads to pleasant surprises and happiness.

4. You find satisfaction in other things besides work.

When people are younger, one of their main focuses lies in work. They tend to put a lot of value on achievement, and throughout most of their lives people assume that achievement is found in their careers.

One hypothesis points to the fact that as people age they realize their time is limited. This causes them to shift focus to the things that are most important to them and, in turn, leads to more satisfaction in their lives.

5. Depression is unlikely as you age.

One very common misconception about aging is that people become more prone to depression. While studies and surveys from the past do seem to show this, we now realize that the research did not account for an individual’s life events.

In a study published by Psychological Science, researchers at Florida State University College of Medicine wanted to see if differences reported in happiness among generations – in this case middle aged versus elderly – were related to factors having nothing to do with age, but rather life circumstances they experienced.

This suggests that previous researched wrongly attributed decline to old age when it really had more to do with life events. Much of the sample size from the past lived through the difficulties of the Great Depression, and World War I and II – all, of which, severely affected how they perceived their quality of life.

6. You could experience a creative peak.

Creativity is often associated with the young, but looking back at history it seems that some of the greatest creative thinkers didn’t create their best works until well past middle age. David Galenson, a professor at University of Chicago, analyzed the ages of 300 artists, poets, writers and other creative folk. He found was that there seem to be two kinds of creatives. Those who do their best work in their 20s and 30s (conceptual artists) and those who do their best work much later in life (experimental artists).

Creativity may, in fact, increase but it may have different characteristics than that experienced earlier in life.

7. You’ll make wiser choices.

Perhaps one of the biggest fears people have about aging is losing their cognitive abilities. While it’s true that as you age your brain structure changes (and while it’s true that after 30 scores on tests of abstract reasoning tend to decline), this doesn’t necessarily reflect in cognitive skills.

Standard tests tend to be designed in a way that minimize the use of past experience. But according to University of Virginia psychology professor Timothy Salthouse, in the real world most of our actions in any given situation are based upon past experience. Therefore, the older you are and the more experience you have, the more likely you are to make better choices.

Final thoughts on growing older:

What this new research suggests is that most of what we think about aging is wrong. Rather than being filled with struggle and strife, which is the story that much of the media perpetuates, it’s actually set up to be some of the best years of your life.

Share This Article!

Article by: Dianne Morris

As a designer and entrepreneur, products for women have always been my focus. In my first company DianneSullivan Designs, I designed and made fun jewelry for young women to buy in boutiques and department stores. That company transitioned into Miraflores Designs which designed and supplied custom designed soap, shampoo and other toiletries for hotel chains including Hyatt, Sheraton and many others. After selling that company, my next company, Bay Linens, Inc, designed decorative bedding which was sold through Bloomingdales, Bed, Bath & Beyond and other retailers. Our home decor products, with the brand, China Seas, was sold at Isetan Department stores in Japan.
At this stage of life I'm connecting with other women over 50 who want to examine their interests and to connect with each other. At ZestNow.com I want to gather useful information and inspiration for this new phase of life.

Tell us what you think - Please make your comments

Great motivation article! #6 about creativity, certainly applies to me. I’m 78 & since turning 70, have published 2 publications, co-authored 2 more editions of a book that we published previously, have co-authored with 2 additional people 2 more books. And working on an additional book proposal. All these publications, except for one, have been published by American Society for Training & Development now known as Association for Talent Development. Have never been so creative in my life!

Also, this October begins my sixth year of writing the “Career Pathway” Column for The Transition Network – an organization for professional women over 50. Have just signed up for your newsletter. Thanks, Annabelle

Encouraging! Mature people can be inspired to take their power and protect social security (which is solvent, contrary to propaganda of those who want to destroy it) and also protect Medicare which is actually cost-efficient.

Very encouraging! American culture is unlike many other cultures in the world in that things have been turned upside down and youth is worshiped and age denigrated and shamed. Also subject to divide and conquer. The younger generations are given false information about having to support people on social security when, in fact, social security is solvent and Medicare financially better for everyonein the long run.

Thank you for all the links to the research. The post was very helpful and thought provoking.
One small point of disagreement. While a lot of what the research finds is true in my own [aging] life, sad life events do become more common. There are losses–in friends, in the ability to do some of the things we once were able to do. We adjust and find compensations, but there’s a sadness to the losses–a sadness I don’t remember experiencing when I was younger, time seemed infinite and everything was possible even if it had to be delayed.